FAKE Now That You're Mine
by Kawaii-Neko-No-Miko
Summary: This is a romance between Dee and Ryo (of course!) This fic is one of four in a series. Technically it is meant to be read in the following order: Stupid Sakura, No More Games, How Could I?, and Now That You’re Mine. But they make sense read alone.
1. Just an OldFashioned Love Song

Fake Now That You're Mine  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own, claim to own, or dream about owning the cast of Fake. Ryo, Dee, Carol, Drake, JJ, Bikky, Commissioner Rose, and anyone else I forgot to mention are the property of the author of Fake, Sanami Matoh, and such.  
  
So! – Here begins the story! I didn't have any plans as to where the story was going when I started it. It wrote itself as I went along. This used to be part of a seven chapter story, but since it had very little to do with the other chapters, I separated them. This is entirely focused on Dee and Ryo's romance. And I think prepositions are the best things to end a sentence with. The crappy grammar isn't the product of careless mistakes; it's included to add to the style. I sound really pretentious, don't I? I'm really not. Wait, that makes me sound even more pretentious. Oops  
  
Chapter 1 Just an Old-Fashioned Love Song  
  
Ryo pulled the covers back up over his head. Bikky was pulling the sheet from the bottom trying to wake him, but Ryo was violently opposed. "Come on, five more minutes."  
  
"No way! If you were trying to wake me up for work, you'd be giving me a responsibility lecture. I'm already set to walk out the door and get to work; aren't you ashamed of yourself that you aren't?"  
  
"Not really. You work four hours a day at an ice cream parlor. And before that, you worked in a bakery. You don't understand what a hard day at work is like." Ryo yawned and dragged himself out of bed. "You gotta do something with yourself during summer break or your brain will start dripping out your ear."  
  
"What, like Dee's did a good decade ago?"  
  
"Would you lay off him?" Ryo gave Bikky a look and then slammed the bathroom door in his face.  
  
"No!" Bikky shouted through the door. That Dee was always making unwanted passes at his Ryo. He'd been protecting poor Ryo for years. Now he was supposed to like Dee or something? What was with Ryo this morning, anyway? He wasn't suddenly going to like Dee. Not enough to stop pointing out his stupidity.  
  
Ryo got ready in a hurry. He didn't want to go to work, but he wasn't going to be late if he had to be there anyway. Still half a sleep, he shuffled into the kitchen. Bikky was sitting at the table looking ready to cry. Ryo was surprised. "What is it, Bikky?"  
  
Bikky shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it, kay? Carol called and we're fighting. Stay out of it."  
  
Ryo sighed. Kids. They were just impossible.  
  
Ryo made it to work on time, but the same couldn't be said for Dee. He showed up almost ten minutes late. "Come on, Dee, what's the excuse this time?"  
  
"Rough morning?"  
  
Ryo glared at him. "You think you're morning was fun? Bikky started my day by waking me forcibly, starting a shouting match, and then making me feel bed for him because he had a fight with carol. You and your Monday morning hangover don't get near that."  
  
Dee shrugged. "Only because I'm used to it. That's a shame about Carol, I guess."  
  
The morning started with, you guessed it, paperwork. Ryo finally convinced Dee to do some, so they actually finished it in time to take a real break. Dee sort of snuck up behind Ryo as he was walking down the hall to the break room. "Hey, Ryo."  
  
Startled, Ryo spun around to face him. "Hm? What?"  
  
Dee then employed his favorite trick. He raised his hand over his head. "Lookit."  
  
Ryo already knew this trick. He'd fallen for it once, and he and Ryo had fought once after he'd seen Dee do the pull the same trick with JJ. He looked up and down the hall. It was empty. So he looked up. "What...uhmmhmmmhm." No one could say that Dee was well known for his professionalism at work, and now was no exception. Dee pushed Ryo against the wall and showed him just what a real kiss was. Ryo got pretty into it before it ended a good thirty seconds later.  
  
Ryo nearly fell down when the kiss was over. That was one hell of a kiss. Dee smiled. He leaned in towards Ryo. "So tell me, Sexy, will you be my lover?" Before Ryo could speak, someone nearby let out an angry, devastated scream.  
  
Both detectives turned in that direction. JJ. Great. Just great. He'd seen the whole thing. JJ ran at Ryo, making a pathetic attempt to strangle Ryo. "You get away from my Dee you...!"  
  
"Come on, what now?" JJ's partner, Drake, dragged JJ away. "Come on, JJ, can't you control yourself?"  
  
Dee fumed. JJ had ended their little happy moment! He'd kill that bastard one of these days. Ignoring JJ's whining, he turned back to his partner. "Hey, Ryo, why don't you come over for dinner tonight?"  
  
Ryo smiled. "Sure, thanks." He'd have to lie to Bikky to keep him from coming over and "protecting" him tonight. Bikky had been really helpful quite often when Dee would try to have his way, but tonight Ryo really wanted to have a peaceful dinner without Bikky interrupting every five seconds to insult Dee. He'd just tell him he was going on a date with some woman from work. Maybe that would fool him.  
  
That evening, Dee gave up on cooking and ordered a pizza. Ryo showed up on time, as usual. They didn't talk much while they were eating. They didn't talk much for a few minutes after they were done, either. Eventually they got into several conversations about completely random topics, none of which were what the two wanted to talk about. In mid sentence, Dee got up and turned on his stereo. Ryo didn't recognize the music. "What song is this?"  
  
Dee grinned. "Just an old fashioned love song." He sat back down next to Ryo on the couch. "You didn't answer me earlier."  
  
"I couldn't. Not after the whole bit with JJ. I'm sorry."  
  
Dee casually put his arm across the back of the couch behind Ryo. "No, don't be. I'll just ask again." He leaned towards Ryo. "So..." He pushed him over sideways and leaned over him. "...will you..." He stared down into Ryo's eyes. "...be my lover, Baby?"  
  
Ryo looked up and met Dee's gaze. He'd spent so much time pushing Dee away that he had taken this long to admit to himself that he did want this. "Yes."  
  
Ryo was prepared for Dee to snap out of his reasonably polite (for him, anyway) mode and get all pushy as usual. After all, if he thought he was welcome, he'd be even worse than when he'd known he wasn't. Surprisingly, Dee did no such thing.  
  
Instead, he leaned down further and kissed Ryo. Somehow, it was even sweeter than his kiss that afternoon at the precinct. It seemed to last forever, and it did in fact last several minutes. Ryo couldn't believe he'd pushed this away for three years. He loved Dee. He wished he'd seen it sooner. He spoke softly. "Dee, all this time you've tried to force yourself on me and I pushed you away...I realize now that that I was lying to myself. I didn't want to love another man, but I do and there's no reason why I shouldn't."  
  
Dee ran his fingers through Ryo's hair. "I love you too, Baby."  
  
"Dee...I said once that I wouldn't care if you had your way. And instead, you hit me, because you knew I didn't truly mean it. But now...I want you to. You know I mean it."  
  
Dee kissed him again. At some point in the night, they moved from the couch into Dee's room. Ryo seemed nervous, but he reassured Dee that he really wanted to go through with it. Dee was ecstatic. Screw the foreplay. Ryo didn't say anything as Dee "helped" him out of his jeans. He said nothing beyond, "I'm ready," as Dee did his thing. It wasn't particularly romantic, but nothing much could be expected from a first- timer who was a nervous wreck. Still, it was wonderful.  
  
The next morning Bikky ran right over to Dee's place. He could tell Ryo was lying, especially now that he hadn't come home, and he felt it was his duty to make sure Dee hadn't molested his Ryo.  
  
Bikky knocked hard on the door. No answer. Finally, he tried the door and found out it wasn't locked. That was real safe. Bikky walked into the apartment. No sign of either Dee or Ryo. Then Bikky noticed the closed bedroom door. Without a second thought, he opened it. He then jaw- dropped and gagged.  
  
Ryo was draped over Dee, still sound asleep. Dee had an arm around Ryo. He'd heard Bikky coming, but it didn't seem like an event worth waking Ryo up for. Bikky stared at the two men. The sheet did its job of covering them for the most part, but he could tell that they'd skipped the pj's part of getting ready for bed. He couldn't believe it. While Bikky stood and stared, Ryo woke up and yawned. "Mornin'...Bikky? Oh my God, why the HELL are you here?! You...I...err...WHY?!!!!"  
  
Bikky turned and walked out of the apartment. While Dee seemed unconcerned that Bikky had walked in on that particular scene, Ryo was panicking. "Shit, Dee, do you realize how bad this is?! First off, this is none of his business, and second, he can't stand the idea of you and me! He's going to be pissed for a long time, and I have to live with him.  
  
Dee thought Ryo was making a big deal out of nothing. "He only hated the idea because he knew you weren't interested. So if he knows it's mutual, how can he possibly care?"  
  
Ryo thought about it. "Good point." He rolled over to check the time. "Damn. We're going to have to hurry if we're going to get to work on time."  
  
"You worry too much. Since they'd string you up for bad hygiene if you wore yesterday's clothes to work again, take something of mine."  
  
With a great deal of effort on Ryo's part, they did get to work on time. They sat down at their desks just as Drake walked into the room. JJ sat and stewed at his desk. He refused to look up and acknowledge that Ryo, the thief of his Dee, existed. Drake decided that his annoying partner deserved to get a hard time this morning, and so did Dee and Ryo. After all, if Dee would refrain from hitting on Ryo in the office, JJ would be a lot easier to deal with. He sidled over to Ryo's desk and spoke loudly enough to ensure JJ would hear him. "Hey, hey, Ryo, is that chair comfy enough for you?"  
  
Ryo looked up at him and blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
Drake grinned maliciously. "Ya know, you don't need a cushion or anything?"  
  
Ryo glared at him. "What are you getting at?"  
  
"Those are Dee's clothes. I know what you've been up to..." Simultaneously, JJ jumped up to scream 'Oh my God' and Ryo punched Drake in the nose. Drake reeled backwards.  
  
Ryo was pissed. "You think you're funny?"  
  
Drake shook his head. Ryo had held back and hadn't really hurt him. "Hey, I was just trying to get a rise out of JJ – which I seem to have done." JJ was sitting on the floor crying. So that was that. He really wasn't going to get Dee anytime soon, was he? Well, he'd just have to work on breaking them up! Yeah, that would be a good plan!  
  
Commissioner Rose sighed. He'd heard everything from the hallway. He really wasn't going to get Ryo, was he? Well, it wasn't meant to be.  
  
And so began another looong day at the 27th precinct.  
  
Continued in Chapter 2... 


	2. Not Like This

FAKE Now That You're Mine  
  
Disclaimer: One of the characters in this chapter is a violent homophobe. He uses some derogatory terms to describe homosexuals. But this fic is not anti-gay. Just that character. I'm so entirely not a homophobe. Please don't be offended! It's a romance between two men. How much less anti-gay does it get?!  
  
Chapter 2 Not Like This  
  
All too soon, as far as the Bikky was concerned, school began again. He shuffled out the door for the first day back. Ryo smiled. "You should be happy! Another year begun is another year closer to graduation. Besides, you're schedule has a lot of fun classes. Don't you like Art?"  
  
"It's not going to be fun! You know that; you were in school not too many eons ago!" He slouched. "I hate my life."  
  
"Don't say that," Ryo snapped. He knew what it felt like to hate his life, and he'd let that lead him down a dangerous path. "You don't mean it."  
  
Bikky gave him a funny look. He had no idea what Ryo had gone through after the incident with the drug dealers. "Sure, Ryo. See you tonight then. Oh, wait, no, I'm going to Lai's after school, and I'm sleeping over. So, see you tomorrow, kay?"  
  
Ryo rushed out the door to work. Damn kids always made him late! Well, nothing he could do about that. He ran in at the last second. Commissioner Rose gave him a disapproving look as he sat down at his desk. Dee showed up several minutes later. Rose glared. He liked Ryo, and he'd put up with his occasional irresponsibility. After all, he did have the kid holding him up. But Dee...no excuse! Not only was he unlikable, but he lived alone and had no one to hold him up. "Laytner!" Rose yelled across the room. "Late again? You keep this up, and your pay will be cut. Understood?"  
  
Dee shrugged and walked over to Ryo's desk. "Mornin',"  
  
Ryo gave him a reproachful look. "Can't you ever be on time? I've got Bikky to shove out the door; what's your excuse?" Dee didn't say anything. Ryo sighed. Well, that was Dee for you. That didn't bother him too much. For all his shortcomings, Dee was still a great guy. "I ought to show up late tonight, just to teach you a lesson."  
  
Dee grinned. "Oh, so you're coming? What about the brat?"  
  
"Come off it. You like him, too, and you don't fool me no matter what you say. But Bikky's going out tonight if that's what you were getting at."  
  
"Great!" Dee smiled. "Looking forward to it." Some decent alone time. Cool. It had been a while since they'd had a nice evening together; whenever Ryo came over to his place, he'd worry about the kid being left alone.  
  
Officer James Dawson watched their exchange with disgust. Those friggen fags. They disgusted him. Bringing their disgusting choices into the office like that...he wouldn't stand for it. Never. Not if he had anything to say about it.  
  
The day was pretty quiet for once. The low point of the day was JJ's fault. He'd been listening in on Ryo and Dee's conversation, too. As Dee walked out the door, JJ blocked the way. Dee shoved him lightly. "Move, asshole."  
  
JJ gave him a pleading look. "What the hell did that prick do to deserve you? That stupid Ryo, he's not good enough for you! He's nothing like you! He's quiet, he's boring, and he made you wait years, just torturing you. Come on, Dee. You know you want me over that jerk."  
  
Dee snarled and grabbed JJ's collar. He pulled him up onto his tiptoes. "Listen here, you little bastard. There's no one I want but Ryo. I can't stand you; never could. Piss off." With that, he threw JJ away from him and stormed out the door. James watched this interaction as well. Another damn fairy. He ought to be fired, too. Those three little gay bastards ought to be thrown out on their faggy asses.  
  
Dee put JJ out of his mind. That twerp wasn't going to ruin his night with Ryo. He cooked a quick pork stir-fry for the two of them. He hummed along with a CD as he tossed in carrots and chopped up some onions. It was going to be a perfect night if he had any say in the matter. Ryo showed up on time, despite his threats to give Dee a taste of his own medicine. Ryo smiled widely. "Smells great, Dee."  
  
Dee smiled back. "I made it 'cause I know it's your favorite, Baby." They enjoyed the meal slowly. When they were done, Ryo headed into the kitchen to start on the dishes, but Dee stopped him.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll take care of those in the morning. Why don't we go watch some TV instead?" Ryo agreed and started towards the living room. Dee shook his head. "There's a TV in my room, ya know.  
  
Dee turned on a stand-up comedy show. They watched it absently for a few moments, sitting on Dee's bead, before they started talking over it. Ryo moved closer to Dee and leaned towards him. He moved his face towards Dee's until their noses touched. He locked eyes with him. "Dee...you know I love you, right?"  
  
"Of course, Ryo. You know I love you, too."  
  
Ryo smiled. Dee made him so happy. He meant the world to him. He tilted his head to the right and kissed Dee. He gently pushed Dee backwards until he was lying on top of him. Strange how Dee had been so pushy and dominating when Ryo didn't want the attention yet now Dee was letting Ryo do the leading once he'd gotten Ryo for his own. It wasn't a huge surprise; Dee had been gentle with him the last time they'd had alone time as well. Dee moaned softly as Ryo's tongue slipped past his lips. He was surprised by Ryo's actions; he'd never guessed that Ryo could be such a great kisser. Ryo had never initiated such a passionate kiss before, and Dee had assumed it was because he wasn't sure of what he was doing. Actually, Ryo was an amazing kisser. Dee wrapped his arms around Ryo and gently ran his fingers through his hair. He could tell this would be nothing like the first time. Ryo had seemed eager yet nervous that night, but now he didn't seem nervous at all. He seemed confident and calm. Dee stroked Ryo's face. This was all he'd ever wanted. Three long years he'd waited for Ryo to be his, and then he'd waited anther two months for him to be truly comfortable with him. He could tell it would be worth it.  
  
Ryo nuzzled against Dee's neck and gently caressed his face. He'd spent three years denying this and then spent two more months second- guessing himself. No more. This was perfect. He pushed himself up off of Dee. Dee whined and gently pulled him back down. "Ryo...where are you going? I don't want you to leave me." Ryo smiled and pried Dee's hands off his shoulders. Dee whined again but didn't move to stop him as Ryo pushed himself up again.  
  
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He knelt and straddled Dee as he started to unbutton Dee's shirt. "But this is." Dee smiled at him and reached up to undo the buttons on Ryo's shirt. Dee sat up and tossed both shirts on the floor. He wrapped his arms around Ryo's waist and rested his check against his bare chest. Ryo embraced him. They stayed that way for several minutes, talking about whatever came to mind. Ryo started to feel his feet go numb from sitting back on them for too long, so he moved and sat down next to Dee. Dee twisted sideways and pushed Ryo down. Ryo smiled up at him and closed his eyes as Dee kissed him. If Ryo was an amazing kisser, Dee was a god. Ryo moaned. He didn't want the kiss to end, but it did.  
  
Dee ran his hand down Ryo's stomach and stopped at the button of his pants. Ryo opened his eyes. Dee looked at him questioningly, as though asking for permission. Ryo blinked slowly. "Don't quit on me now."  
  
Dee flopped down next to Ryo and sighed contentedly. Ryo looked over at him. "Tired?"  
  
Dee smiled. "Nope. I'm a god. I'm a marathon man. I'm a once-in-a- lifetime blessing from heaven."  
  
Ryo laughed. "It's nice to know you think so highly of yourself. But you know, Dee, just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I feel like being the woman in our relationship. We're both men, and we ought to both act it. You catch what I'm saying?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Ryo was a bit unsure of himself, but he managed. As he lay down next to Dee, Dee smiled at him. "Not bad for your first try. Not bad for anyone, I'd say."  
  
Ryo sighed. "Tell me, Dee, how many men have you been with before me?"  
  
Dee was surprised by his question. "Would you believe me if I said only one? And also only one woman? I may act like some kind of whore, but I don't just give it up to anyone. No, they gotta be real special. It's gotta be love."  
  
Ryo stared up at the ceiling. "You found two real loves before you were 25? You're a lucky guy."  
  
Dee teased him saying, "Who says before I was 25? I couldn't have had a nice relationship going all the years I've been chasing after you?" Ryo elbowed him in the ribs. "Ouch! Just kidding. Yeah, I guess I was lucky. But she left me, and he died. So it goes. It's all in the past. I have you."  
  
Ryo moved closer to Dee and snuggled up to him. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry, but how'd he die?"  
  
Dee sighed. "AIDS." Ryo jumped. "Hey, I'm clean. Don't worry. It's called protection, and I got tested when he got sick. I trust you, so I didn't worry about that with you, but Andrew wasn't real responsible. He didn't even know he had it. He died about 2 years after I met him. But come on, Ryo, I don't want to live in my past. I'm not hiding anything from you."  
  
Ryo moved closer and kissed Dee. "I believe you. I won't bring it up again. You're mine now, and that's what matters."  
  
They fell asleep in each other's arms soon after their conversation. They didn't hear it when two masked men picked the apartment door lock and, guns in hand, opened the bedroom door. Without a sound, the two men found both officers' weapons and pocketed them. Once the two men were certain that they had unquestionable control of the situation, one of them smacked Dee's feet. He stirred without waking. The man hit him harder. He woke with a start. Without opening his eyes he muttered, "Hey, stop kicking, Ryo."  
  
"That ain't Ryo, fag," a voice much deeper that Ryo's boomed. Dee opened his eyes to find himself staring at a man with an orange ski mask over his face and a gun in his hand. He shifted his gaze and saw another man, slightly taller than the first, wearing the same ugly ski mask and also pointing a gun at him.  
  
The taller man spoke. "Now wake up your little lover and keep him quiet. If either of you scream, we'll kill you both. Dee glared. "And don't bother going for your guns, because we already took them." It didn't look like he had any options.  
  
Dee shook Ryo's shoulder. Ryo whimpered. "It can't be morning yet. I feel like hell."  
  
"It's not. Don't scream. We're, um, being held at gunpoint."  
  
Ryo woke up fast. "What now?" He turned to stare at the men. "Shit. What the hell do you want with us?"  
  
The taller man spoke again. "You'll get dressed and come quietly if you don't want a bullet through the brain." Ryo shuddered. He recognized that voice, but he wasn't sure from where. He and Dee threw on their clothes as ordered. They couldn't win in a fight against two men with guns. They stood quietly as the shorter man tied their hands behind their backs while the taller man enforced his rules with the threat of his gun. The two men walked outside to the two men's car. They sat silently in the back, the driver with a gun in his lap and the passenger facing them, gun in hand. No way were they getting away from these freaks.  
  
They were blindfolded and led into a building, up several flights of stairs, and into an apartment. When the blindfolds were removed, they found themselves each tied to a sofa. Ryo and Dee locked eyes from across the room. Without words, they conveyed the same thought to each other: Holy shit!  
  
The two men laughed. "Get comfy...it's only getting worse from here. A third man wearing a black ski mask entered the room. He was half leading, half dragging a sobbing and blindfolded man. It looked like... "JJ?" Dee wondered out loud.  
  
"What? Is that Dee?" JJ whimpered as the man leading him smacked him.  
  
The man growled. "Keep your voice down, you jackass, or I'll kill you now." JJ shut up immediately. JJ whimpered softly as the man with the black mask tied him to the kitchen table, which was right behind Dee's sofa. The three men stepped back to view and laugh at their three prisoners.  
  
The taller man in the orange mask, obviously the leader, spoke to them with sadistic pleasure in his voice. "Well, isn't this the nice little fairy assembly we've got here?"  
  
Ryo knew he'd recognized that voice. "James Dawson! We work with you!"  
  
With a laugh, the man pulled off his mask. "I was wondering when you'd guess. Actually, I'd really hoped Dee would figure it out. But no, he was much better acquainted with my brother, Andrew."  
  
Dee almost gasped. Dawson had been his former lover's last name. "Is that what this is about?"  
  
Dawson laughed again. "Of course, you damn queer! It was gays like you that made Andrew start going with men, and it was some damn queen that gave him your fucken gay virus when he was just fourteen! You damn bastards took his life away, and you rub it in every day at work, with all the 'see you tonight' and 'Dee, why won't you leave him for me?' and that shit. So you're going to die. And it's going to be slow and painful, because that's how Andrew went.  
  
Ryo cringed. They were screwed. He couldn't do anything tied to a couch. So this was the end. He hadn't expected to go this way. He had hoped he'd die with dignity, perhaps in the line of duty or maybe when he was old and had already gotten something accomplished in his life. Not like this. He couldn't go like this, tied like a dog and sitting, knowing his lover was going with him. But he was. Nothing would stop these men. Dawson's revenge wouldn't let him see how wrong he was, and his friends didn't seem any more inclined to show any mercy. Dawson grinned maliciously. "We'll start with that one," he said, indicating JJ with a wave of his hand. One of his associates kicked JJ in the head. The poor guy couldn't handle a paper cut, much less a kick in the head. He screamed. The man who'd kicked him shot him in the heart. Dee and Ryo cringed and shut their eyes. It didn't matter that they'd never liked him; he was a fellow officer and he'd been brutally slain. Dawson hissed at the shooter. "Moron! Why wasn't there a silencer on that gun?!" The man looked like a deer in the headlights. Dawson clenched his fists, then relaxed. "Never mind. No one's awake at this hour. If that woke anyone, they won't know what it was that woke them. But if you do that again, I'll be shooting you. Understood?" The man nodded frantically. "Good."  
  
That done, Dawson grabbed a kitchen knife and walked towards Ryo while JJ's killer put a silencer on his gun. "Well, aren't you excited? You're next. You don't get a quick end, though. And if you scream, my buddies are going to shoot your boyfriend and make you watch him die. So keep it down." Dawson ran the knife across Ryo's cheek, leaving only a shallow cut. Ryo winced. "Can't handle that, can you, fairy? Let's see how you like this, then." He quickly switched his grip on the knife and stabbed it into Ryo's right shoulder. Ryo gasped. Dee turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Dawson pulled the knife out and immediately dragged it down the length of Ryo's upper arm. He grinned. "You don't like that? Well, why don't you just have a break while your partner gets to have some fun?"  
  
Ryo snarled, "You bastard. You think you won't get caught?"  
  
Dawson sneered. "You think I care? As long as you die, I can rot in prison for the rest of my life and still be happy. Because my brother's dying words were, 'Dee, I love you.' Not 'Mom', or 'Dad', or 'James' or 'Grandma', but 'Dee'. So Dee's gotta go. And the two men who love him just have to be sent to Hell with him, eh?" Dawson turned and strode over to Dee. "Well, Dee, hope your lover's clean, because you're coming in contact with his blood right about..." Dawson stabbed the knife into Dee's right thigh, "...now." Dee flinched. "Oh, another girly man. Well, maybe you'll like this better." Dawson slashed across Dee's chest, leaving a bloody line almost seven inches long. "That better? Well, what do you think of..." He paused, positive heard noises in the hallway. He turned to his two pals.  
  
"Keep your guns on them." He cut through Dee's bonds, then Ryo's. They new better than to do something stupid like move; they'd be shot dead before they got anything accomplished. "The two of you, stand there!" Dawson barked while pointing to a spot against the wall. The pair did as directed, trying not to look at JJ's dead body. Dawson's two friends moved to either side of the pair. Dawson walked over to them, grinning manically. "It's the end of the line." He jammed the knife into Dee's left arm, yanked it out, and slashed Ryo's right arm with it, making a "T" with the previous cut. Dawson laughed as he heard footsteps outside the door. He waved the knife in the air. "This next one's a killer, ladies!" Before he made his finishing move, the apartment door hit the floor. Four cops stood in the doorway, guns pointed at him and his two partners in crime. "Police! Drop the weapons!" Ryo and Dee dropped to the floor for safety. They fell into each other's arms, despite the fact that the contact caused their injuries to hurt all the more. That didn't matter as long as they could hold each other.  
  
Dawson's pals dropped the guns. Dawson wasn't quit as self- preserving. He waved the gun as he stepped towards the four officers. "James Dawson! Drop the weapon or we'll fire! As a cop, you should know that!" He didn't. They fired. He dropped to the floor full of lead and gasping.  
  
He gagged on the blood he was spitting up. With his last breaths, he gasped, "Those...queens..."  
  
One officer went over to JJ. He was clearly dead. The four officers removed their hats and bowed their heads towards his body. He'd been a good officer, for all his annoying habits. They then turned their attention towards Dee and Ryo. They were still clinging to each other as though hell was trying to drag them apart. They were both covered in blood and – did their eyes deceive them? – crying. They didn't bother the pair until the ambulances arrived. Even then, they resisted being separated. They felt like if they let go of each other now, they'd never see each other again. Commissioner Rose arrived a minute into the dilemma and managed to get them peacefully apart and into ambulances.  
  
The precinct was pretty quiet when the detectives returned to work a few days later. Everyone knew what had happened. Things wouldn't be the same. There weren't going to be any more snickers from the more rude officers every time Dee and Ryo passed by together. Drake wouldn't be making any more of his implied gay jokes. It wouldn't be right. Yes, Dee and Ryo were a couple. And yes, there were always going to be cops on the force who hated that. But they wouldn't be able to say anything about it without someone giving them hell.  
  
Dee spaced out over his coffee when he and Ryo took their break. Ryo sat down in the chair next to him. "Dee, you lost?"  
  
Dee shook his head. "Nah. Just wondering, do you think James actually believed what he said? That all gay guys should die because his brother died of AIDS after he got it from another man?"  
  
"Honestly, yeah. He probably did. But that doesn't matter that much, or at least it shouldn't. He was wrong. His opinion doesn't matter. And he's dead. It doesn't matter." Ryo put his hand on Dee's shoulder. "Don't worry about it."  
  
Dee shrugged. "The past...is past. You're right. Forget about it." They both knew he was full of it. Neither of them had had easy pasts, and neither of them were forgetting it any time soon. But neither were they forgetting each other soon. As silly as it seemed, knowing they had each other made them a lot less worried about stupid things. Sort of like a don't sweat the small stuff reminder. Dee grinned. "So, did Bikky give you a lecture on 'this is why I don't like you being around Dee'?  
  
Ryo smiled. "I think he seriously considered it. Know what though? He likes you. Really."  
  
Dee snorted. "I wish he didn't." He didn't mean it. Just a front, same as his tough-guy act. 


End file.
